One thing that never changes about marketing plans…okay, two: You never have as much time to plan as you’d like, whether you have $350,000 or $35 million dollars. And, bumps in the road are to be expected—even downright roadblocks. So you want a forward-looking plan that ensures an agility and an ability to respond quickly to changes—as authors Francesco Lucarelli and Colin Foster emphasize in our cover story, 4 Approaches to Optimizing Marketing Budgets.
Sophisticated and ongoing measurement of brand diagnostics are at the core of today’s marketing plans. That allows marketers to see what’s simply eating money (channels, content, etc.) and cut, and what is earning money, and expand. These insights and learnings, added year over year—even minute-to-minute!—form the basis of any great marketing plan.
So like algorithms, marketing plans are anything but static. To be successful in today’s world, these plans must truly engage the patient—which takes some doing, especially with Millennials, who tune out of advertising but are interested in brand experiences. Connecting better with patients—forming engaging relationships—now requires operating in Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned (PESO) spaces that are much less predictable, controllable, and transactional than typical channels of communication.
These relationships have become super important and must be nurtured and built with, for instance, the patient advocates and key influencers who draw large audiences to a brand. Hear more about how PESO is becoming the backbone of both brand planning and brand activation.
And it’s all building on digital innovation and smarts. This issue’s Digital Compendium showcases the industry’s powerful sophistication. The possibilities for reaching and engaging people through digital means are exponentially expanding as marketers become less risk-averse with a deeper understanding of channels once considered to be new. This Special Section covers programmatic buying and the bounty it is offering pharma, virtual events, voice search, whether or not you should invest in Snapchat—it’s all here. Just about everything in marketing is predicated on insight. And this section’s new Black Book resource provides a look at companies with exceptional insights into the digital space.
One final note, in last month’s issue we introduced you to this year’s ELITE winners. Now don’t miss this chance to meet these extraordinary individuals in person at the ELITE Event on July 16th at NYC’s 230 FIFTH.
